She's Here!

 

 

Lena Joy Pretekin was born on February 15, 2014 at 10:13 am.  She weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 16.5 inches long.  We're so excited she's here!

36 Weeks

I am 36 weeks today...9 months!! I can't believe how close we are to meeting our little lady. I'm getting very anxious for her to be here and also feeling a bit tired of being pregnant, which is something I never experienced with Graham. However, I am so incredibly grateful to be here. There were several moments early on when I really felt that we would never make it this far and that is a terrifying and devastating feeling.

I had a doctor's appointment last week and will have one later this week, as we have moved to weekly appointments. Last week, at 35 weeks, I was 2 cm dilated and my cervix was quite thin and soft. Baby girl had also dropped down and was in the head down position. Things are moving along!

And the Grammy for Song of the Year Goes To...

Here's Graham singing a song that he wrote himself and titled "Mud Graham."

Christmas Catchup

Cheese!  Christmas morning, opening presents at home.

Lots of cars.

New tablet

Pretekin Family Christmas 2013

M's new grumpy cat t-shirt

Graham and Me

And again...too bad we weren't both looking at the camera at the same time!

32 Weeks

Here's the belly at 32 weeks! It's amazing that we only have 8 weeks (give or take a little) left!
*Note: My goal had been to stay on track with my monthly belly picture posts, especially since I was very good about this during my pregnancy with Graham. I want to keep the same records and documentation through this blog with this pregnancy. This means that I'm behind with my post about our holiday. I promise to have that up soon!

28 Weeks

Hello Third Trimester (one day early)!  My appointment this week went well.  Baby Girl's heart rate was strong and within normal range, and I measured right on track.  I had to do the one hour glucose test, and like with Graham, my glucose came back slightly elevated.  This means that tomorrow I will be doing the 3 hour test in order to determine whether or not I have gestational diabetes.  I'm hoping that, like with Graham, everything will come back normal after this test.  However, if the results did show that I had gestational diabetes, I would most likely have to watch my diet (restricted sugar and carbs) and would be monitored closely by my doctor (more frequent visits, although I have moved from monthly visits to every 2 weeks since I'm in the third trimester now anyways).  Not too big of a deal.  Here is the monthly belly picture!  I've definitely noticed some growth this past week!

Keep growing Baby Girl!

Graham's view

Brrrr!

We have been having quite the cold snap here in Colorado!  We have had temperatures in the negatives and single digits for the last several days.  We even had some snow a few days ago.

Shoveling with Grandma

Despite incredibly cold temperatures, G loved being outside

All snuggled up so he can hang out in with Daddy in the man cave in the garage

What else is there to do when it's this cold out?  Spend time on your tablet!

Diaper Duty

This time around we don't nearly as many baby supplies (just some replacements items and little girls clothes), but one thing I had my heart set on was getting a new diaper bag.  I never really found one that I loved the first time around, but I didn't use it a ton, as I was mostly at work while Graham was at daycare.  This time I will definitely need something functional as going out and about with both kids will be a very regular occurrence.  I wanted to get something cute and quirky, but big enough that I could manage stuff for all three of us.  I love unique items that are handmade and I love this one purse/bag shop in particular on Etsy, called Maranda Lee.  I found something I liked and ordered a few months back.  My new diaper bag finally arrived, and I couldn't be happier.  I love it and can't wait to use it!

Life of Graham

Laughing and playing

Building a wall with pantry stuff at Grandma and Poppa's house

Trying out a birthday present

Leaving the park is no fun and makes for an unhappy boy

What's better than playing with your trucks?

24 Weeks

 

 

At my 24 week everything (baby girl's heart rate, my belly, blood pressure, weight gain, etc.) measured right on track.  Graham came to the appointment with me and enjoyed hearing the baby's heart rate.  He also thanked the doctor for checking his baby sister!  Updates on me: I have been feeling good, but goodness can this girl ever kick!

Yipee, Someone Is Three!!

Happy 3rd birthday to our funny, thoughtful, kind, generous, loving, smart, energetic little boy (and the list of adjectives could on and on and on)!

 

At his 3 year check-up, Graham weighed in at 34.5 pounds and was 38.75 inches tall.  This puts in the 75th percentile for both weight and height.  He was in excellent health and did very well during his appointment.  He didn't even cry when he got his flu shot, just yelled "ooooow!"

Doin' The Robot

Graham really loved Halloween this year!  Last year, he did enjoy going trick-or-treating, but didn't really understand what Halloween was or talk about it much in the days leading up.  This year, he was very excited about trick-or-treating, painting and carving pumpkins, and general Halloween décor.  He was, however, unsure about wearing his costume.  My mom made him a robot costume, but he wasn't willing to try it on.  In the days leading up to Halloween, I really talked up wearing a costume and even had him help me pick out a witch hat to wear as my own costume.  The morning of Halloween we decided to go to story time at the library.  Much to my surprise, Graham quickly agreed to put on his costume and was even disappointed when he didn't have a hat/headpiece for it.  I quickly fashioned something and made a mental note to work on something a little better while he was napping.  Michael was able to make it home from work in time to head out with us this year!  Just like last year, Graham loved seeing people's houses and animals.  We were incredibly proud of how outgoing he was with everyone and how well he remembered to use his manners!

Going to the library!

Halloween Story Time

Dressed warmly to head out

Hitting the houses with Daddy

What A Weekend!

Last weekend, Graham got to spend the night at Cookie and Bompa's house!  He had such a great time.  He went to several parks and a pumpkin festival.  We took Graham to this same festival last year and it was amazing to hear (and see the pictures) of how much he has grown in wanting to participate in the activities offered!

Runnig around at Cookie & Bompa's

Bowling with pumpkins

Rolling around inside the giant ball

Decorating a pumpkin with Cookie

Smiling in the train

Riding the pony

Meanwhile, Michael and I attended a wedding.  One my good friends from college married a wonderful, so we traveled up to Ft. Collins to celebrate!  The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun.  The best part was the delicious food.  The food was Mexican-themed.  The appetizers and buffet were absolutely amazing!  We had such a great time at the wedding and then next morning we went out to breakfast together before picking up Graham and celebrating Cookie and Bompa's 34th anniversary with another delicious dinner!

Wedding celebration

20 Weeks

We are halfway there!  Unbelievable!  I know I've said this before, but there some moments early on where I really doubted we would make it this far, but our little girl is growing away!  I also did a comparison to my belly when I was pregnant with Graham.  It's crazy to me how different I look!

Belly shot!

Let's compare!

Think Pink!

We are having a GIRL!!  You read that correctly, come late February/early March Graham will be getting a baby sister.  We are thrilled to be adding a daughter to our family and surprised that there will be a Pretekin girl (there's not a whole lot of them)!

And now for an update on the pregnancy so far.  I have been feeling good, but experienced a bit of bleeding again around 16 weeks.  My doctor had me come in for an ultrasound just to make sure everything looked okay.  Baby was looking good during the ultrasound, but the tech thought that my placenta appeared to be very low and at my next visit, she would check to see is it had moved down over my cervix causing a condition called placenta previa.  Placenta previa typically means some level of bed rest with very regular doctor visits in order to monitor mama and baby, since the condition can have complications.  The tech also thought that my placenta looked like either it had an accessory lobe (totally normal and does not cause any complications) or could have another tear.  I was told to take it easy and to do as little lifting as possible.  During this visit, the tech also told us that she was fairly certain we were having a girl, but was not 100% sure since it was still early and baby wasn't completely cooperative.  We told our immediate families the news about the baby's sex, but decided not to tell anyone else until we got confirmation a few weeks later.

So on to my next visit.  I am happy to report that everything looked great!  My placenta moved up quite a bit, so I am no longer at risk of developing placenta previa.  The tech was also able to determine that my placenta has an accessory lobe and there are no new bleeds.  Our baby girl looked great, is developing normally, and measuring right on track.  I'm also happy to report that our baby girl is quite the mover!  I didn't feel Graham move until a bit later in the pregnancy due to the location of my placenta (me and the placenta, right??).  Even when I started being able to feel him, he was never really active.  Baby girl sure is!  We are so excited!

Yawning @ approx. 16 weeks

Little face @ approx. 16 weeks

Are those girl parts??? (approx. 16 weeks)

Yup, baby GIRL @ approx. 20 weeks

Little feet @ approx. 20 weeks

Little face @ approx. 20 weeks

Fun Fall Day

Fall is in the air! Today Graham and I went to the library (typically we go every other week to pick out new books) and we ended up staying for storytime! We didn't make it through all of storytime, but Graham had a great time with the other kids. I had a great time watching him interact with the other kids. He's incredibly expressive, he makes all kinds of gestures while he's talking and hasa ton of inflection and expression in his voice. After naptime, we did some painting using fall colors. Such a fun filled day!

Storytime

 

Artwork

With a Song in His Heart

He's singing "Working Together" from Thomas and the Blue Mountain Mystery.

15 Weeks

Right around 15 weeks was when I started to bump out with Graham, and I have definitely noticed a growth spurt within the last week (Michael swears I've grown in the last few days).  Here's my bump at 15 weeks with Graham and with Baby 2!

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, which went well.  It was just a basic appointment: weight, blood pressure, baby heart rate check, and blood draw.  Baby's heart was 130 beats per minute, which is within normal range (normal is 110 to 160).  At our next appointment, we will have the BIG ultrasound!  They will check all of the structures on the baby, and we will get to learn the sex (fingers crossed baby cooperates)!  I cannot wait!!

Big Brother

(My best attempt to get him to pose while holding the ultrasound picture of his little brother or sister!

12 Weeks

And one day.  Just like my pregnancy with Graham, I am planning on taking a belly picture each month.  And as tends to be true with second pregnancies, my bump is definitely getting bigger sooner.  I feel like I look like I did when I was about 16 weeks with Graham.